1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the data processing field and, more particularly, to a computer implemented method, system and computer usable program code for monitoring a transaction that crosses an enterprise boundary in a composite application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Composite applications are n-tiered applications which interact with multiple systems, subsystems, interfaces and programming environments to provide customer service and business value. Composite applications are becoming more service oriented and as such may be termed Service Oriented Application (SOA)-based composite applications.
SOA-based composite applications are often applied in environments that require interaction across enterprise boundaries as well as within an enterprise. With composite applications, for example, transactions can be between business units, divisions, and other entities inside an enterprise; and also across enterprise boundaries as the enterprise accesses business services and applications offered by suppliers (service providers) located outside the enterprise.
In SOA-based composite applications that include cross-enterprise transactions, enterprises often encounter problems with respect to the services they interact with or rely on for their business processes. Such problems, for example, can include problems relating to response time in receiving a service, availability of the service when it is needed, cost for the service, and the like. In view of such potential service problems, it is important that an enterprise receiving services maintain Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with service providers to help assure acceptable service delivery.
Notwithstanding SLAs between parties, however, it can be quite challenging for an enterprise receiving services in a composite application to gather reliable and authoritative data regarding service delivery and other business transactions that cross enterprise boundaries in a manner that is acceptable to the service providers and to other business partners in the composite application. For example, when a transaction crosses an enterprise boundary between two or more partners, questions arise as to which partner is responsible for supplying data for SLA measurement, and as to how that partner might gather and provide the data in a manner that allows other partners to be assured that the data is accurate, that it was collected at the right time and that it is directly applicable to the SLA in question. It is also important that the transaction data be correlated across enterprise boundaries in such a way that provides visibility and confidence to all participating partners.
Currently, there are security certificate companies which validate certificates used by service providers on the Internet; however, there are no service level management companies that can ensure that providers are meeting SLA requirements with respect to delivery of services in a composite application. Currently, no satisfactory mechanisms are in place for an enterprise receiving a service in a composite application to identify the cause of a service delivery problem as a transaction flows across enterprise boundaries. Even though the enterprise receiving the service can ascertain that the service is not meeting SLA requirements, there is no mechanism that enables the enterprise to independently gather and analyze data concerning the cause of the problem and for sharing the data across enterprise boundaries.
There is, accordingly, a need for a mechanism for enabling a recipient of a service or other transaction that crosses an enterprise boundary in a composite application to independently monitor the transaction.